Intel looks to Indonesia for bailout

Desktop and laptop sales to millions of first-time computer buyers in Indonesia are helping save Intel's bottom line. According to the Wall Street Journal sales of desktops and laptops that use Intel’s chips are expected to surge in Southeast Asia’s largest economy. The country is seeing its average income go up and enable more people to buy computers.

While Chipzilla has been struggling in more-developed markets, it seems that Indonesia is rocketing. The company’s Indonesian sales might climb more than 20% this year, said Uday Marty, Intel’s Singapore-based managing director of Southeast Asia. And with fewer than one in 10 Indonesians owning computers, there is a lot of room to continue growing at that rate, he said.

The country has 240 million people and more than 50 per cent are less than 30 years old. This means they are more likely to buy computers once they can afford them.